Pretty much any discussion of a workout regimen these days, tends to involve a detailed description of supplements. While there is a ton of research indicating that creatine is a solid performer in any supplement regimen, more or less everything else is going to boil down to some kind of controversy of bro-science. So, I’m just going to list out what I have and what I feel it does for me. You can disagree all you like, and you may be right.
Fair disclosure: All links are affiliate links. However, I’m not getting paid by anyone for my thoughts on these products, nor did I receive any of it as a free review / promotional item.
Most folks rotate their supplements pretty often, and I even mention here that I’ll probably try another pre-workout soon. This is what I do; you might enjoy it as well. But if you have health concerns, definitely consult with your doctor before pursuing any supplements.
Please note that these prices were sampled on 4/3/24. Prices may have gone up or down, and you may get a better deal by going somewhere other than Amazon (which is where I bought everything except the coffee).
| Item | Cost/day |
| Lucid Coffee | $1.47 |
| Advanced Cuts (*) | $1.78 |
| Animal PM | $1.13 |
| Naked Creatine | $0.32 |
| B-Nox Androrush | $0.99 |
| TOTALS | $6.13 |
Detailed List
Mental focus – Lucid Coffee, coffee flavor; $44 / 30 days
I debated on whether or not to add the coffee to this, because it isn’t a workout-focused supplement. It is however vital to my function at work, and should be of interest to my fellow tech-bro’s. I start the mornings with this, and it does have some caffeine. But that really pales compared to what it does for your mind overall, which I attribute to the nootropic blend. I’ve had Covid 4 times or so, and after each time I’ve increasingly felt this unpleasant disconnected sensation, like I was operating my body via remote control. That feeling pretty much vanished after two days of drinking Lucid. I’ve also got co-workers who swear by it for mental focus, so I consider it to be as much a part of my daily routine as creatine. Your mileage may vary – if you don’t have a job that requires more focus than you’ve got right now, and aren’t dealing with covid aftermath, Lucid may not hold an important place in your lineup. However, it does for me.
Metabolism – Animal Advanced Cuts powder; $37.36 / 21 days
This is similar to, but not exactly the same as, the pill pouch form of Animal Cuts. I rather like the orange mango flavor. I follow the directions of course, so this is two servings a day (from a 42-serving tub) – one before lunch, the other before dinner. Because the schedule is the same for this and my creatine, I add my creatine (below) to the same shaker bottle as the Advanced Cuts.
This is a weight loss and metabolism focused supplement. I’ve only been on this for a week or two I’ve used the Animal Cuts packs on and off for years though, and they do seem to give a small push if your diet is already in check. This is not a strong recommendation, as I haven’t got a ton of experience with this, but I think it’s probably helpful for me. It’s also noteworthy that this does include some nootropic blends as well, so there’s potentially some overlap with the Lucid coffee, but just like with the trace amounts of creatine in B-Nox down below, I would not expect the nootropics in this to be a replacement for Lucid if you are looking for mental focus.
Creatine – Naked Creatine; $32.39/100 days
The benefits and low risk of creatine monohydrate are pretty well established. Out of all the supplements here, if you only get one, get this. The flavored creatine mixes that cost more? Don’t bother, unless it happens to also be a pre-workout that you like. I use the recommended 10mg a day of this; if you were only doing 5mg a day, this would last 200 days.
Pre-workout – B-Nox Androrush; $34.79/35 days
To start with, this pre-workout is nothing compared to what I used to take in 2014 or so. But keep in mind that back then, the bar of what a pre-workout should be, was set by jack3d. And some formulations of jack3d would later go on to be banned due to actually being meth.
I don’t think I ever had the banned version, but back then all the pre-workouts were super high-stimulant things which would make your heart want to explode if you didn’t actually make it to the gym after drinking it. Seriously, if one drank it before going to the gym, and then got there to find the gym was closed, it was prudent to go running around the parking lot or doing an insane amount of pushups, just to try and burn off that energy without it all channeling into your heart.
As an aside, this does say it has creatine, but it doesn’t disclose anything about how much. The overall internet forum consensus seems to be that it must not be much, so I treat it as bonus creatine on top of the known 10mg/day I am getting from the creatine powder above.
So, I haven’t tried a lot of modern pre-workouts, and this definitely isn’t in the same league as the old Bullnox Androrush which I used to use. That is probably a good thing, medically speaking, but I will probably try another pre-workout after this.
That being said, I do like its grape flavor and it does provide an energy boost. It definitely beats not having any pre-workout, but I do plan to try a few other vendors to see if I can find something a bit stronger than this.
Recovery / sleep – Animal PM; $33.95 / 30 days
This is the supplement I’d replace in a heartbeat, if I could get the old recovery supplements I used to get. Alas, neither the Arnold-branded Iron Dream nor Ronnie Coleman’s Resurrect PM are available anymore. This does seem to do about the same, but it doesn’t have that delightful grape flavor I got with the other two options.
I use this because I like to hit the gym just about every day, and I don’t want to develop a more complex three or four day split to ensure I’m not working a muscle group again before it recovers. I’ve found that with this in my regimen, I can fully recover a muscle group after two days instead of three.
So, that’s my current list of supplements. I may later on do another post about vitamins, as I do have a shelf full of those. Being a 47-year-old guy who wants to make it to a 315lb bench press eventually, joint supplements in particular are something I’ve been fastidious about for years.
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